One Last Goodbye
by niennavalier
Summary: Tauriel finds Kili during the Battle of Five Armies and, in their time alone, are given the chance to say goodbye. Kili/Tauriel. Spoilers for the end of the story.


**Ever since watching The Desolation of Smaug in theaters, I've really started to find the Kili/Tauriel pairing to be really cute, despite the fact I can tend to be a bit of a purist when it comes to adapting books into movies. However, having read the book and knowing how it ultimately ends, it's really hard to imagine the story ending well. So keep in mind that this story does contain some spoilers for the end of The Hobbit, but it is also just my opinion on what I think might happen. Reviews would be much appreciated, and I hope you enjoy my work!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit or any of its characters. I can only sit here and obsess over all the characters I love.**

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One Last Goodbye

"My lady," the young dwarf prince breathed out in a pained whisper as the radiant captain of the elven guard approached swiftly, impossibly light on her feet. Like an angel sent to him from another world far above his own. Floating, gliding over the treacherous terrain the moment she had seen him fall.

He who had charmed her with a single look, a few passing words. He who had told her stories of the lands beyond the borders of the kingdom. He whose brown hair lay sprawled about, a dark halo surrounding the face now pale and sparkling with sweat at the threat of death's cold fingertips. And there was the blood, near black and menacing, seeping from a deep arrow wound in his abdomen, forever staining the rocky ground of the Battle of Five Armies as t mingled with that of his brother's and uncle's both already laying slain at his side. All fallen protecting each other.

The elf maiden laid down her weapons, kneeling at his side as the surging battle suddenly slowed, coming to a stop, the two given some time left alone in the universe for one last goodbye."Kili," she instinctively reached for his wound, wishing there was some way to heal him here. Knowing that such a thing would be impossible.

"No," he pleaded weakly before her warm hands could touch his rapidly cooling skin. "Tauriel, please."

"Let me help."

The dwarf shook his head, the simple action sapping his diminishing reserves of strength. "It's too late."

"It's never too late." But she too knew the truth, felt its dark shadow overtaking what hope she had left.

"But I go now to the land past here with my brother and uncle, to be with my father I've not seen for decades." His voice dropped, barely above a whisper anymore as his gaze became slowly unfocused, his quick mind slowing with the passage of time. "But then, my promise, and Mother…"

"Shh," Tauriel soothed, encasing a cold hand in one of her elegant ones, thinking back to the night he tossed the green stone in the Mirkwood cell and told her of his vow to return from this quest alive, whether successful or not. "She would be proud of you and of all you've done."

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly, unable to feel the warmth of her hand on his, knowing only of the phantom weight that seemed to exist there in some other world.

"Of course," she reassured as his eyes began to slip closed. "She will always love you, just as I do as well." And in his last few breaths, she leaned in close, her lips a warm and gentle summer breeze brushing lightly against his, seeming to chase away the frigid tendrils of death, letting him succumb pleasantly to a peaceful, comforting eternal sleep. She could feel as the life left his body, spirit passing on, and stood again, once more wielding her flashing twin knives. Rejoining the battle, she fought to protect the young Heir of Durin or else die defending him to the end.

And ant who walked the battlefield later would find the bodies of a handsome young dwarf prince and a beautiful elf maiden fallen, laying side-by-side, joined together in death, taking the next step in their journey to a place where a centuries old feud could not stop their forbidden, yet true, love.


End file.
